Save the Children welcomes the continued support of the IKEA Foundation which this week announced an €8 million global grant (more than AUD$12 million) to train aid workers.

Globally, the Building a stronger global humanitarian capacity grant will fund the training for more than 20,000 aid workers, giving them the professional skills to protect, support and educate children during disasters.

As a part of this, the grant will fund 570 places for child protection, education, emergency response and humanitarian leadership professionals to complete the Graduate Certificate of Humanitarian Leadership Course.
Delivered by the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, a partnership of Save the Children and Deakin University, the Graduate Certificate of Humanitarian Leadership Course is the only one of its kind globally.

Centre for Humanitarian Leadership Director Stephen McDonald said having a highly skilled and professional humanitarian workforce greatly improved an organisation’s ability to prepare for and respond to crises.

“In many countries where crises strike, there is a lack of capacity to respond in an effective and timely way,” he said.

“By investing in research, innovation and modern technologies, growing and enhancing training for humanitarian workers, and building the capacity of local aid workers, we will ensure we better protect children when they need it most.”

IKEA Foundation humanitarian portfolio head Annemieke Tsike-Sossah de Jong said every child had the right to a safe place to call home and a quality education.

“Children’s rights and safety are severely threatened during emergency situations. By supporting Save the Children’s training program, we’re helping strengthen the humanitarian system so that children have a better chance of surviving disasters and thriving into their future,” Ms Tsike-Sossah de Jong said.

The IKEA Foundation partnered with Save the Children in 2015 and since then has funded the training of more than 300 aid workers in at least 40 countries.

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